NEW DELHI: Eight Canadian Sikh youths have been rounded up and arrested in a span of a week in Brampton, all charged with firearm-related offences by local law enforcement.
Some sources suggest that the arrests indicate that Canada is ready to crack the whip on erring individuals.
"All eight youth arrested are Sikhs and were found in possession of firearms – which doesn’t imply they were Khalistani supporters," said a source.
The arrests happened after reports surfaced of shots fired in Brampton (which has a substantial Sikh community). Search operations showed they were in possession of firearms.
Aparently, the information about these youth came from a local gurudwara. All those arrested are between 19 to 26 years of age and have been charged with 'possession of loaded or prohibited or restricted firearms'. Reports indicate they are part of a drugs and illegal weapons cartel.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently said that they want to continue to engage with India and not escalate the situation.
Meanwhile, India has said it is keen to see the downsizing of Canadian diplomatic missions from India in order to maintain parity with Indian diplomats in Canada.
"As we have said in the past, there is a high presence of Canadian diplomats in India and they interfere with our internal affairs. In keeping with that, we expect the Canadian diplomats to downsize and leave," said Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi.
Reports suggest that October 10th is the deadline for 41 Canadian diplomats to leave India.
The arrests came after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke about a 'toxic mix of criminals, terrorists and traffickers' operating in Canada.
"Canada has been permissive towards terrorists and extremists. I am in a safe position to say that not just are Indian diplomats unsafe and threatened in Canada, where going to missions is a challenge (which is why we had to stop visa issuance). There is a toxic mix of criminals, terrorists and traffickers. They have been operating in Canada because of the compulsions of Canadian politics," Jaishankar said while speaking at the Hudson Institute recently.